1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a releasable binding assembly for a gliding board such as monoski or snowboard, comprising first and second releasable bindings to rigidly affix first and second boots, respectively, to the gliding board.
2. Description of Background Information
There are numerous known types of releasable bindings used in the field of alpine skiing. With the use of snowboards or monoskis, however, the problems presented are different from those of a conventional alpine ski.
In fact, in the case of a snowboard or monoski, the two feet are rigidly affixed to the same gliding board. In addition, the forces sustained by the knees, legs, and ankles of the skier are very strong because the two feet are connected to a single board. Thus, there tends to be a greater potential for a foot or leg injury due to the relatively great weight of the board compared, e.g., to the weight of a conventional ski. The primary danger arises when only one of the skier's boots is disconnected from the gliding board, the other leg then being subjected to significant forces.
Releasable binding assemblies are presently known for fixing a skier's boots to a gliding board which make it possible, when one of the boots becomes disconnected from the gliding board, to reduce or eliminate the release threshold of the other boot, so that it becomes separated, in turn, from the gliding board. French Patent Application Nos. 88.09510 and 87.16539 are exemplary. In other words, as soon as a boot is released by its binding, a linkage device makes it possible to act on the other binding so that it releases its boot. However, this construction has the disadvantage of presenting a linkage device constituted by a cable, which can creates losses of energy transmitted by the cable, from one releasable binding to the other, by rubbing of the cable in its sheath Consequently, this reduces the linkage efficiency between the two releasable bindings.